This invention relates to improvements in the design of what is known as a caddy, which in general terms is a device for storing or holding objects when not in use. More particularly, the invention concerns a caddy assembly for storing cleaning equipment in an industrial or factory workplace. The principal object of the invention is to provide a movable caddy stand which can hold brooms and mops in a rack with their handles downwardly so that their working ends are clearly visible for inspection, and also for holding bottles of cleaning materials and the like and related objects used in maintenance work such as clipboards.
Various tool holders and organizers are known such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,772,047, 5,810,177, 5,842,566 and 5,881,891 and also U.S. Design Patent No. 429,071. Perhaps the most relevant prior disclosure is in U.S. Pat. No. 3,780,874 which describes a unit for holding cleaning implements. Its design is less than satisfactory, however, because it can hold only four brooms or mops with handles downwardly and then only with the remote handle end portions received in relatively shallow sockets which may or may not fit the handle diameters to hold them vertically upright. Also the apparatus of this reference supports two other broomlike tools with their handles upwardly and it includes various hook elements all on a plurality of upwardly converging legs.
In accordance with the invention a caddy assembly is provided for storing cleaning equipment and it includes a substantially flat base with a vertical multi-sided pole member extending upwardly from a central portion of the base to a height of approximately four to six feet. A plurality of upwardly open bottle holder cups are mounted respectively on a first pair of opposite sides of the pole member above the midpoint thereof. A plurality of upwardly directed hook elements are mounted on a second pair of opposite sides of the pole member above the mid-point thereof. A pair of horizontal closely spaced extended parallel rack elements are secured to and project outwardly to each side of a to portion of the pole member with opposite ends of the pair of rack elements spaced apart to receive a plurality of broomlike articles, which is to say brooms or mops or the like with their working ends upwardly and handle ends downwardly.
In a preferred form of the caddy assembly the flat base is circular and the pole member is four sided. Two of the cups may be mounted respectively on two opposite sides of the pole member and two of the hook elements made by mounting the other two opposite sides of the pole member above the cups. The rack elements may include upwardly turned stop portions at their opposite ends to prevent unintentional displacement of the broomlike articles from between the rack elements. In a preferred form the pair of horizontal rack elements are secured substantially at their midpoint at the top of the pole member.